The invention relates generally to marine propulsion devices and, more particularly, to marine propulsion devices such as stern drive units and outboard motors including a reversing transmission and a shifting mechanism therefor.
Stern drive units and other marine propulsion devices commonly include a reversing transmission which connects a drive shaft to a propeller shaft and is shiftable between positions to provide neutral, forward drive and reverse drive operations. Shifting of the transmission usually is controlled by a remote control lever operably connected to the shifting mechanism through a linkage arrangement or a push-pull type cable arrangement, both of which usually have a certain amount of inherent lost motion or slop which tends to increase as the components wear with use.
This lost motion can be particularly troublesome for single lever controls arranged to control both shifting and engine throttle setting. Such controls typically include a main control lever which is movable in opposite directions from a neutral position, first through a shifting range without affecting the throttle setting, and then beyond the shifting range through a throttle range to advance engine speed without affecting shifting. Thus, shifting desirably occurs before there is appreciable throttle advance, thereby minimizing transmission wear during shifting and jerking at the time of full clutch actuation. Appreciable lost motion in the linkage connecting the main control lever to the clutch can result in significant throttle speed advance before the clutch is actuated.